Prosecution Indicts Jo Joo-bin and Two Accomplices in Custody... 14 Charges Excluding Criminal Organization Offense (Comprehensive)

Yoo Hyun-jung, head of the Digital Sex Crime Special Investigation Task Force at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor of the Female and Child Crime Investigation Department), is briefing on the indictment and detention of Cho Ju-bin, the operator of the "Doctor's Room," on the 13th at the press room of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy reporters Seokjin Choi and Hyungmin Kim] The prosecution indicted Jo Joo-bin (24, in custody), the operator of the "Baksa Room," on the 13th.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Digital Sex Crime Special Investigation Task Force (led by Chief Prosecutor Hyunjung Yoo) indicted Jo on charges including production and distribution of child and youth pornography under the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse, forcible molestation, coercion of child prostitution, attempted rape and similar sexual acts against children and juveniles, filming using a camera under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, forcible molestation, and violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.

Jo is accused of threatening 25 female victims, including children and juveniles, from May last year to February this year, to film sexually exploitative videos and selling and distributing them through the Telegram "Baksa Room." Among the confirmed victims, 8 were children and juveniles, and 17 were adults.

He is also accused of threatening victim A (15 years old) in October last year by threatening to distribute nude videos, then ordering accomplices to attempt sexual assault and engage in similar sexual acts.

The prosecution applied 14 charges against Jo. A prosecution official explained, "Among the 12 charges applied by the police when transferring the case, the charge of conspiracy to murder was changed to attempted fraud because it was difficult to see that Jo had an actual intent to kill."

Additionally, "During the prosecution's investigation, additional victims whose personal information was identified were charged with forcible molestation under the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse and false accusation, bringing the total number of charges in the indictment to 14," the official added.

The prosecution also requested seizure and preservation of 15 virtual currency wallets owned by Jo, as well as securities deposits and stocks, and requested confiscation and preservation of 130 million won in cash seized.

Furthermore, the prosecution indicted accomplices Kang Mo (24, social service worker) and Lee Mo (16, student), who were already detained and brought to trial, without detention on the same charges as Jo.

The prosecution recognized the conspiracy between Kang and Jo, applying five charges including threats and forcible molestation to Kang. Lee was also charged with filming using a camera under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act and production and distribution of obscene materials.

The most anticipated charge of organizing a criminal group has not yet been included in the indictment as legal review and related investigations have not been completed.

However, the prosecution plans to decide on additional indictments after securing further testimonies and evidence to apply the charge of organizing a criminal group through supplementary investigations. Investigations into other crimes such as concealment of criminal proceeds will also continue.

A prosecution official stated, "We have confirmed that the indicted accomplices had some division of roles. Although there are still matters to review, we believe that after actively investigating additional accomplices and confirming other crimes, it will be possible to apply the charge of organizing a criminal group."

Among the three accomplices identified as co-operators of the Baksa Room with Jo, 'Buda' Kang Mo (19), who is accused of managing members and delivering profits to Jo, is under police custody, and 'Igya' Private Lee Mo (20), accused of distributing and promoting sexually exploitative videos hundreds of times, is under military prosecution custody. The remaining accomplice, 'Samagwi,' has not yet been apprehended.

The prosecution official also stated, "We support the 'right to be forgotten' by deleting victim videos detected through an illegal filming detection system and, if the victim wishes, assisting with name changes and resident registration number changes. Based on the awareness raised through this investigation, we have proposed legal amendments to expand the disclosure of sex offenders' personal information and introduce an emergency deletion system for child sexual exploitation materials."

He added, "We hope this investigation will provide youth with the wisdom to discern the dark intentions hidden behind the anonymity of social network services (SNS), raise awareness of 'sexual exploitation video crimes' not only among investigative agencies but throughout society, and serve as an opportunity to devise fundamental countermeasures."

Meanwhile, the court receiving the cases of Jo and others plans to assign the trial panel before the general election. Although case assignments are usually done randomly via electronic assignment, considering the importance of the case, it is expected to be assigned to one of the four panels at the Seoul Central District Court that specialize in sex crime cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.